Maynard students recognized at Worcester State

Monday

Jun 12, 2017 at 12:59 PMJun 12, 2017 at 12:59 PM

Melanie Hunter, of Maynard, has received the Lt. Col. James F. Sheehan Senior Academic Achievement Award from Worcester State University.

Hunter, who recently graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in communication sciences and disorders, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish, was honored in April at the Academic Achievement Awards Ceremony at Mechanics Hall in Worcester. Each year, the university honors and rewards the highest-ranking students in each of the academic disciplines, as well as those who have received special recognition awards and scholarships.

Hunter hopes to combine her two degrees to focus on speech therapy for children whose first language is not English. After graduation, she will continue her studies at WSU to pursue her master’s degree.

“With students who speak another language, their problems may only be due to language differences, not a disorder,” she said. “I want to use my knowledge to speak up for students and get them the help they need.”

While at WSU, Hunter has used her language skills as a Spanish tutor, a translator at the Latino Education Institute and an aide in a bilingual elementary school classroom in her hometown. She is also an associate teacher at Bright Horizons Family Solutions in Lexington.

A fluent German speaker as well, Hunter is a member of Alpha Mu Gamma, the foreign language honor society, serving as vice president her sophomore year. She ran distance races for the WSU track and cross-country teams, and was a member of the WSU cross-country team that won the 2016 All-Academic Award for the team with the highest GPA on campus. She was also a member of the Commuter Advisory Board as vice president, and an orientation leader.

This is the second time that Hunter has won a Lt. Col. Sheehan Academic Excellence Award.

In 2013, the late Lt. Col. James F. Sheehan, USMC Ret., gave $500,000 to his alma mater, Worcester State Teachers College, as it was known in 1955. It was the largest cash gift in the history of the university. Sheehan, who passed away in 2016, was the most generous benefactor in WSU’s history, sharing approximately $4 million to benefit students and faculty.